Girl at the Rock Shows

My dad and stepmom have always been supportive of my live music addiction. Not only did they let me go to shows nearly every night when I was growing up (after my homework was done, of course), but they even let me have bands stay at the house after they played in Des Moines, Iowa. It was different back then. Bands were easily accessible via Myspace, and I habitually brought these “stray bands” home with me so they could take a warm shower and get some hot food. Although that tradition has ended due to the small size of my townhouse up here in Minneapolis (don’t worry, it will start back up when I get a real house which will hopefully be sooner rather than later now that I have a boyfriend and two part-time kids that come with that package), I tried to let it ride when I first went to college and was living in apartments. I had a few bands take me up on the offer, and one of those was San Diego-based pop-punk band Pensive.

It’s been years since I’ve thought about that band, but I’ve stayed in touch with Patrick, the lead guitarist. It hasn’t been much. The random message here and there about a show I went to is about the extent of it, but when he reached out to me about his new musical endeavor, my heart started to flutter. Although it’s been years since Pensive was a thing, was this new project, Subducted, going to take me back to the good old days, or, like me, has Patrick completely evolved and turned into a bit of a different person when it comes to the music? Let’s listen to Subducted’s new EP ‘Surviving’ and find out.

‘Surviving’ starts with “Reborn.” This opening track begins with a fairly simple drum fill before crashing guitars come in and shoot you into Subducted’s world. There’s a slight sense of darkness and mystery in this opening song that really got me hooked. It’s a bit spacey, slightly in the vein of Starset, but there’s also something a bit angsty about the vocals that reminds me a bit of old-school AFI with a slight Saves The Day twist to it. It’s a dramatic sound that definitely catches you and leaves you grasping for straws as far as what to relate it back to, but that’s the magic. Something about “Reborn” feels familiar, but overall, the sound is completely fresh and innovative.

“Decay” brings the speed and angst up ever so slightly with an almost hardcore approach to the drumming. I really felt the AFI influence come through in this song, but also something a bit more dramatic, like a little My Chemical Romance with the vocals. I love this little callback to Patrick’s former life in a pop-punk band, but how, at the same time, it shows just how much time has passed since that time in his life. The driving beat in this song makes the three-minute and twelve-second track feel so much faster than it actually is, so don’t blink during “Decay” because you may miss something.

I’m not sure what the clip is that opens up the third track, “Two Degrees,” but I know that I absolutely adore this song. Again, leaning a bit more into the angsty side of Patrick’s Subducted project, this song moves fast due to the driving drums and crashing guitars. It takes a hot second for the vocals to come in this track, but I love how that gives you a chance to really focus on the delicate intricacies that are in the instrumentation throughout this four-song EP. When the vocals do come in, they have a slightly whinier pop-punk vibe to them, which, again, is a nod to Patrick’s history, but that doesn’t mean that this song is a pop-punk anthem. It still has that signature darkness that seems to be a constant throughout this EP, giving this album as a whole a bit more of an alt-rock vibe than anything else.

“The Flower Defies” is the final song on this all-too-short four-song, fourteen-minute EP. Although it’s more or less the same vibe as the previous tracks, I feel like you feel a bit more desperation in the vocals. This is especially true through the breakdown-styled portions of this nearly four-minute song. It’s emotional, it’s raw, it’s vulnerable– it’s perfect. The constant rollercoaster of this ride is a great way to end this album and leave you wanting to hear what the next ride is in the story of Subducted.

‘Surviving’ from Subducted is a far cry from the bouncy pop-punk anthems that I know and love Pensive for, but hearing this side of Patrick and hearing all of the work that he has put into this solo project of his made me so excited. Beyond my personal background with Patrick, this EP is a super solid listen and one that is more than worth a couple of minutes of your day, so go ahead and take a listen!

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Subducted on Bandcamp

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